Argentina Moto2: Qualifying report.

The Argentina Moto2 qualifying session was an entertaining one, with Xavi Vierge getting his first pole position at the end of the 45 minute long session.

The weather in Argentina has played havoc with the rider’s preparations all weekend, with no two sessions seemingly being the same. The rain that was threatening to hit the track on Friday finally did materialise on the Saturday, throwing up some interesting results in all 3 classes.

Iker Lecuona was the first man out in a session that was merely damp to start with, then most of the pack followed as it seemed imperative to be able to get a lap in before the track got wetter. The initial pole man was Mattia Pasini, continuing his excellent performances in both free practice sessions. He was quickly overtaken, however, by the second place man from Qatar, Lorenzo Baldassarri.

For 35 minutes of the session, there was no movement in positions from the initial laps, barring Joe Roberts on the NTS chassis who was slowly chipping away at the top 15. Alex Marquez attempted to go out on slick tyres, but didn’t even complete a lap before pitting to re-fit the wets. The curious case was Romano Fenati, as he sat in the garage for the majority of the session, only appearing on track with 13 minutes to go. He would end up 19th.

Then with 10 minutes left, the session exploded with a bang. The track appeared to dry out and the times started tumbling, although nobody could actually beat the lap set by Baldassarri until the chequered flag came out, when Vierge, being the last rider to take the chequered flag, took the pole by 0.271, with a very quick 1.56.137 lap time. Rounding out the front row were Baldassarri thanks to his early effort and, thanks to a stunning lap at the death, Danny Kent, on the Speed Up chassis.

Last year’s winner Miguel Olivera ended up 7th. Other notable performances were Remy Gardner, on the Tech 3 chassis bringing it home in 9th place, just behind Alex Marquez, and the sole Gresini representative Jorge Navarro ending up 5th, after what seemed like a lap that would put him on the front row. British interest will be high with Kent being 3rd and Sam Lowes taking 6th, after a persistent ride. Joe Roberts ended up 10th on the NTS chassis, it’s best performance to date in a World Championship race. The race one winner in Qatar, Team Sky VR46’s Francesco Bagnaia could only manage 15th, although he is ahead of Brad Binder and Joan Mir respectively.